Information Spaces

Summary

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are becoming ubiquitous. According to some visions, in the near future we will have GIS, along with word processors and web browsers, on every desktop. A distinct group of applications, broadly categorized as location-based services (LBS), are intended to deliver information depending on the location of the device and user. This kind of ready access to information and services has the potential to transform both how people use and understand information and how they experience technology. It would offer new capabilities to users, but providing “Everyone their GIS” also brings up many interesting technical, conceptual, and social issues and questions. This panel will discuss a subset of these questions that are most relevant to library and information science. Examples include:

- How to incorporate “Where,” as a component in a “What, Where, When and Who” metadata infrastructure;

- How to apply metadata for GIS developed by users to serve the public;

- How to represent events so that place, time, actions, and actors can be treated holistically;

- How to develop advanced search techniques that would allow the user to search and organize data on the basis of topic, person, place, institution, etc.;

- How to assist library staff and patrons to locate items using spatial information;

- How to use GIS in studying “life paths” (individuals movements through space and time);

- How to best represent, organize, and visualize information according spatial attributes;

- How to develop visualization techniques that are specifically geared towards spatial information;

- How to apply geographic tools and techniques in dealing with questions in information science;

- How to account for the effect of mobile computing on the collection and dissemination of data;

- How to develop GIS that is user- and environment-friendly, that can promote equal access and protect user’s privacy.